After drinks and canapés, the five-strong group met Mr Cameron in a smaller room to explain what they did to help the city during the floods.

Mr Ghatora, from Harwell, and his four staff made sure the elderly and ill residents of West Oxford still had their supply of medication from Woodlands Pharmacy in Botley Road. This was despite the fact that floodwaters crept up to the shop’s top step and some deliveries had to be made by foot in Wellingtons.

He said: “I was quite nervous to meet the Prime Minister but it was a great honour.

“If the pharmacy had to close, lives would have been at risk. It could have been a life or death situation.